Peter Chianca: Let us now praise Emblem3, who are dreamy

Friday

Aug 23, 2013 at 12:01 AMAug 23, 2013 at 11:15 PM

I realize 44-year-old men are not in the dreamy teenager demographic, but that didn’t stop me from accepting an offer to interview the boy band Emblem3 at Square One Mall in Saugus earlier this month. That’s because I knew my readers would want me to, and by “readers” I of course mean my 14-year-old daughter.

Peter Chianca / At Large

There are not that many “perks” in the print journalism business these days, unless you count the sympathetic looks people give you when you tell them what you do for a living. (Sometimes accompanied by an “I’m so sorry,” like they just found out your dog has terminal distemper.)

But occasionally something cool does present itself, like the opportunity to meet famous dreamy singing teenagers. Yes, I realize 44-year-old men are not in the dreamy teenager demographic, but that didn’t stop me from accepting an offer to interview the boy band Emblem3 at Square One Mall in Saugus earlier this month. That’s because I knew my readers would want me to, and by “readers” I of course mean my 14-year-old daughter. (I know where my bread is buttered.)

In fact, I proposed to the band’s publicist that my daughter, Jackie, conduct the interview, on the grounds that unlike me, she speaks boy band. I would just accompany her to take pictures and embarrass her by existing. The publicist thought this was a fine idea, and when I told Jackie she wasted no time in pulling out her notebook and engaging in that age-old journalistic technique of immediately hyperventilating.

And who could blame her? As previously mentioned, Emblem3 are dreamy, as evidenced by the the girls on our Twitter feed, where we offered one follower a spot at the front of the line to meet the boys. The same girls would tweet over and over again for days, saying things like, “I would give up the whole world to meet my idols!,” “PlEaSe PiCk Me” and “Gave up Florida, spent 2 days tweeting!” (Wait, what?)

Jackie, to her credit, had no trouble coming up with a fine series of questions for the trio, and spent most of her prep time training me so I wouldn’t do anything dumb when we got in there, such as mentioning old people like Bruce Springsteen or mispronouncing lead singer Wesley Stromberg’s first name. (I kept wanting to say “Westley” like in “The Princess Bride,” because why wouldn’t I?) We eventually decided that I just shouldn’t say anything, and possibly bring a mop so they think I’m the janitor.

When we arrived we found a crowd of hundreds of teenage girls in seemingly identical denim shorts, some of whom who’d been there for over four hours, stretching all the way down the mall and singing along to the Emblem3 album being played over the P.A. system. It reminded me of a massive, joyous church service, if massive church services revolved around Wesley Stromberg. Fortunately before that had a chance to sink in, it was time for the interview.

First, our guide from Columbia Records brought us to one of those behind-the-scenes mall areas that you only see if you get in trouble with a security guard for spitting off the top level and they have to stick you somewhere while they call your parents (not me, other people). There we were placed in an office to wait with what appeared to be the teenage daughters of every Square One Mall executive, who were taking turns hyperventilating.

Eventually we were led in for the interview, and I must say Jackie was fantastic. (I literally must say it, because I’m her father, and it’s the law.) She was personable and professional, asked six cogent questions and waited until the very end to tell them that she loved them and give them hugs, which is exactly how I conduct all of my own interviews.

As for Emblem3, they were, well, dreamy (there, I said it). Especially Wes and little brother Keaton, who told Jackie she looked like “a younger Jennifer Lawrence,” at which point I give Jackie credit for not fainting -- even I got a little woozy. Granted, Drew -- “the one with the abs” according to every teenage girl ever -- was a little out there; one of his answers was, “Un-identify with my ego and conquer it and dissolve all suffering in the universe.” Let’s face it, with an answer like that it doesn’t really matter what the question was.

And then it was time for us to go so that Emblem3 could meet its adoring Saugus public. You could tell they were meeting their public, because the 500 girls let out a piercing scream that could not have been louder if they had looked up to see the mall collapsing in on itself.

Now, as a seasoned journalist I’ve interviewed my share of famous people over the years: “Weird Al” Yankovic (twice!), Chris Isaak, one of the Indigo Girls (pretty sure it was Emily), a large, sweaty Elvis impersonator … OK, that’s pretty much it. But I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Emblem3 for providing Jackie with what she now describes as “the most magical 10 minutes of my life.”

Now if I can just convince her not to go into print journalism, we’ll be all set.

You can read Jackie's interview with Emblem3 here. Peter Chianca is editor in chief for GateHouse Media New England’s north-of-Boston newspapers and websites and author of “Glory Days: Springsteen’s Greatest Albums.” Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/pchianca.